West Ham United manager Graham Potter is facing the axe after a terrible start to the 2025/26 Premier League season. But he has been handed a lifeline.
According to The Telegraph, senior figures in the dressing room still think he’s the man for the job.
West Ham have lost four of their opening five Premier League games, including three London derbies against Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and, more recently, Crystal Palace.
The Hammers have also been dumped out of the EFL Cup by fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers.
West Ham are preparing for trips to Everton and Arsenal before the next international break, and those two games could decide Potter’s future.
West Ham already eyeing replacements
Club owners David Sullivan and Karren Brady have already started exploring potential replacements.
Former Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo is under consideration, while former Hammers boss Slaven Bilic has also emerged as a surprising candidate.
However, it is understood that several senior players have rallied around Potter, insisting that he’s the right man to lead the team.
While their identities have not been made public, those players are said to have shared their support both privately with family and friends and more openly with the club.
They believe that replacing Potter at this stage of the season would not guarantee improvement and could even unsettle an already struggling squad even further.
West Ham sit second from bottom on the Premier League table, but the team still believes that Potter can turn things around.
The Hammers have only taken three points from a possible 15, with their only victory coming in a thumping 3-0 win against Forest at City Ground.
Recent data suggests West Ham should be doing slightly better, with expected goals (xG) models placing them two points and three places higher in the table.
That would hardly be enough to appease the demanding Hammers faithful, but Potter is running out of time to save his job.
West Ham are known to avoid knee-jerk decisions when it comes to managerial changes, but they could be forced to act if there’s no improvement before the next international break.